After Everything We've Been Through - Emma's version
by Captain Poupon
Summary: After everything they've been through -darkness, Hades, being separated by realms- all Killian and Emma want is to have a quiet moment. To be just the two of them, just for one night. [Captain Swan feels guaranteed!] [#10DaysOfCSfeels: one chapter a day, 10 chapters] [Emma's point of view here, Killian's also available]
1. Chapter 1

"Killian?"

I could see he was about to follow my parents, Zelena, and this new guy from the other realm, but we had barely spent any time together lately and, at last, it seemed like we had a quiet moment, like he was calling them. We had a quiet moment, and I wanted to spend it with him and only him, to tell him all those things I had thought of telling him while we had been away from each other; I took his hand to slow him down and put some distance between us and the others.

"What is it, love? You don't still feel guilty about my return, do you?"

 _What? Of course not._ "No. Just, after everything we've been through; darkness, Hades, being separated by realms… I just wanted to... say something, you know, when we're not in the middle of a big battle or one of us is facing death." Even while looking at the sidewalk, the words were not coming out as smoothly as I wanted to. I stopped and stood right in front of him. "When things are just… normal."

"And what's that, Swan?"

 _Nope, admiring the bright blue hues of his eyes is not helping_. I knew what I wanted to say, but the words didn't seem to find the way out. Unable to hold his gaze any longer, I glanced down. Why was it so difficult to say out loud what I was screaming inside? He gave me this look I knew too well; this look reminding me I could tell him anything. I knew I could. I glanced down again, as if looking at the sidewalk would help me. Maybe not drowning in his bright blue eyes would, at least.

It felt like I needed to gather my courage to say those three words which meant so much but at last, I looked up. "I love you."

I barely had time to admire his smile; he captured my lips and my heart fluttered. My arms went around his neck while his own slipped in my back, pulling me closer to him. A new first happened as he lifted me up, making my feet leave the floor. Delightedly, I kept kissing him. It was as if I would never get enough of the taste of his lips. My feet reached the floor but our lips remained locked together. Suddenly, I remembered I needed to breathe and leant my forehead against his own while inhaling. I kept my eyes closed for a moment, regaled by the taste his lips had left on mine. When I opened my eyes, I saw he was gazing at me and I couldn't help smiling from ear to ear. I kissed his cheek and took his hand; it was time to go, we had things to do.

"Come with me."

"Where are we going?" he asked.

 _Not saying._ "Somewhere not far from here." He would surely guess soon enough, anyway.

"So you're not taking me at Granny's?" he inquired when we passed the path leading to the diner.

 _And be reunited with the others?_ I shook my head. "We're almost there."

Soon, we arrived in front of the white picket fence house; it was ours, but with all the recent events, we had not even got the time to properly move in.

"I've spent some time here already, but without you it just felt like a house. It's about time it feels like a home." While I was explaining, I saw him lightly shake his head; he looked enthralled, and I was wondering why. "What?"

"Your words sometimes simply sound like music."

 _Oh, Killian…_ "Come on." He followed me and we entered. "You picked the house, and I moved in when we came back from Camelot, but we never had the chance to talk about it. When I arrived here, I've started to fix everything out, but there are still many things missing, in the kitchen for example, we'll need to go to the shop. I preferred to wait for you, to know what you wanted. I was wondering about some things."

"So that's it. I'm finally moving in with the woman I love."

"Looks like it."

Before I had time to react, his lips were against mine and I got lost in another kiss.

"What are these things you're wondering about?" he asked.

 _Uh, what? Oh, yes, the house._ "It's upstairs."

We walked up the stairs and stopped in the corridor.

"It's about the bedrooms," I said. "Since you were the one to pick the house, I was wondering if there was a reason why there were three rooms, besides the one in the loft. I know Henry would like the one over there. But the other rooms…" _Four rooms…_

"I was thinking this one could be ours," Killian said while standing behind me and taking me in his arms, indicating the largest room, in front of us.

 _Ours._ There was this question I had not dared to ask him yet; it was probably stupid, but I needed to be sure. "So we're sharing a room?"

Considering how he looked taken aback for a second, it was obviously a stupid question indeed. "Of course we're sharing a room." His words were clear, but then he seemed doubtful. _Are you hesitant?_ "Only if you want to. I mean, we've never shared a bed before, and I'll understand if you need more time before we do." _Oh, that's why. Worried about me. My Killian._ "We can have separate bedrooms if…"

 _No, that's not what I want. Stop talking._ I placed my finger across his lips to silence him.

"I don't want separate bedrooms, and I would have been surprised you wanted that. I just wanted to be sure. After all these years spent on your own, you could have wanted your own space." _Or you could have wanted me to have my own space. But I don't want it._ "To each have our own space and go into each other's room when we…" _Not saying this aloud._ "Anyway," I concluded with a smile.

Hearing my question had made me realize how stupid it was. But I knew the reason why I had felt the need to ask this question, even if I didn't dare to say more about it; I didn't dare to admit how, when living in this house alone while trying to find a way to get rid of the darkness living inside both of us, hearing him use the past tense to say those three little words had made me feel so unsure that I had been questioning everything, and insecurities were not easy to shake off once they had settled in.

I noticed how he was gazing at me, obviously waiting for me to talk. "This room, I also thought it could be ours. It's all fitted out. I was just wondering if there was a reason why there were so many rooms."

"Can there be too many rooms?" He asked with a lopsided smile. His hand reached my cheek and, leaning into his touch, I drowned into his eyes. "My love, this house may be the home of our future; who knows how many rooms we might need?"

 _Our future. How many rooms we might need... for our future._ My heart skipped a beat. "Did you…" _Have I got this right?_ "Did you just suggest that…"

"Perhaps."

He answered quickly. _Perhaps._ I had been unable to finish my sentence; had he even understood what I meant? I looked into his eyes, trying to know more about it, in vain. _Our future._ I knew he wanted a future with me, and I with him but, maybe because we had been separated so many times, Killian and I being together already fitted my idea of a perfect future. I kept silently gazing into his eyes, not daring to ask the questions which crossed my mind. _What do you see for our future? More than just the two of us? You want to be a father?_ The idea suddenly made me feel overwhelmed with love and I let myself fall in his arms, the scent of his neck filling the air while I hugged him. Looking over his shoulder at the corridor, I tried to picture a mini-version of him.

"Did you have any other questions about the rooms?" His question interrupted my musings.

"No. If we need only one room, then it's ready. I had time to fit it out. There are more things to take care of downstairs." _I love you._ I pecked his lips and led him to the ground floor.

I saw him look into the telescope and it felt like going back in time: I thought of this time when I had brought him to this place and showed him the telescope for the first time, when I had made him believe I'd tell him everything about my plans but I had been lying. My eyes were drawn to the door leading to the basement where I had done so much wrong.

"Love?"

I slowly turned around to face him. "Do you think I'll ever be able to live here without thinking of how I made you come to this place and kissed you right here to poison you, so that I could lock you up with Zelena in the basement?"

"Emma…" Only a few seconds later, I was in his warm embrace. "I remember standing here and stealing your memories. Or standing there and impersonating Henry to trick you and take Excalibur. I've done worse things than you. But we agreed to forgive ourselves for what we did. We just need some time to create new memories. Good ones. We haven't done things right, but we'll fix everything. This place will feel like home." His words were comforting, and his embrace comfortable; I could stay there for a long time if he let me. "Speaking of doing things right, there are things we haven't even done."

The negative emotions of the past minutes gave way to curiosity. _Like, making love?_ "Like what?"

"Like taking the time to go sailing and admire the sunset, and to stargaze once the night has fallen."

 _I'm in love with a romantic fairytale pirate._ I pictured us aboard the Jolly Roger while he talked, and it was nothing but appealing. "Can you take me sailing tonight?"

His smile brightened and I gathered my question was the one he was waiting for. "I can do that. And since we have some time before sunset, how about I take you to the restaurant? I've spent enough time in this town to know the next crisis will arrive soon. One more reason we have to enjoy a date when there's no Snow Queen or Queen of Darkness or darkness itself after us."

Then he did it. _Dammit, Captain Killian Jones, why are you looking at me like this?_ He was giving me this adorable smirk while playing with his eyebrow, this look I could not resist. I knew he was aware of the effect this look had on me, and I was even suspecting him of doing it on purpose.

"Will you go out with me tonight?" he asked.


	2. Chapter 2

"Will you go out with me tonight?" he asked.

"Of course I will!"

 _And the irresistible look was not necessary._ My answer had burst out. The prospect of an evening out with him aboard the Jolly Roger was so thrilling that I let my lips crash against his own, maybe a bit too keenly. There was only one point of his plan for the night on which I was hesitant.

"I have one request," I announced. "Can we skip the restaurant part and have dinner aboard the Jolly Roger instead? We can get some take-away food."

He played with his eyebrow again. "Are you saying you want to eat a grilled cheese and onion rings on a date?"

 _What's wrong with grilled cheese and onion rings?_ "I'm not going out on a date with you for the food. And it doesn't have to be grilled cheese and onion rings."

"As you wish," he simply replied.

 _Good._ "Are we going now?"

My question surely made me look like I was impatient, but honestly, I was; an evening for just the two of us was something we hadn't got in what seemed to be a very long time.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes." But memories of our first date and of the way he had admiringly looked at me when I had opened the door resurfaced. "Unless you prefer me to wear a dress?"

I noticed it took him a moment to answer, and I wondered what he was thinking about. At last, he answered, "You look beautiful like this."

 _Perfect._ The less time I needed to spend in the bathroom, the better. "Then, let me do just one thing and I'm all yours."

I grabbed my phone and, while feeling his eyes on me, quickly typed a message. The evening Killian was talking about sounded amazing and, after everything we'd been through, I wanted to spend this time with him and only him; I would let no one stop us.

"What did you do?" he asked when I hit the send button.

"Texted my father."

"What did you say?"

 _Curious pirate._ I was actually amused, and didn't hesitate before quoting the text, "I said, 'Going to sail with Killian. Goodnight!' And now I'm leaving my phone here."

I put the phone down on the table. _Not taking any chance to be interrupted. Henry's with Regina, he'll be safe with her. The others can survive without us for one night._

"Nothing will come in our way," I added. "It's just us. You and I."

"Let's go, before a dwarf comes running our way to announce the next hassle."

A giggle escaped me. "You're right, let's go." We understood each other: we both knew we had to avoid Grumpy. "You're the only one I want to see tonight. I don't want anyone to interfere with our plans."

He approved. "Let's escape for the night."

He left his phone next to mine and I followed him outside. Going at Granny's was risky, and the thought of simply skipping dinner crossed my mind, but we still went. I was just hoping my parents would have left the diner already. Luckily, there was no one we knew there.

"What do you want to eat for dinner?" I asked Killian while walking to the counter.

"Whatever pleases you."

 _Very helpful, thank you._ I examined the menu, and more precisely the section which I had spent years avoiding: the section suitable for couples, the one with baskets to share, containing too much food for a single person with a normal appetite. At last, I didn't need to avoid this section. Reading the description of the different baskets, I hesitated between two of them and pointed them to Killian, who was standing right by my side.

"Which one do you want: this one? Or this one?"

I looked up and repressed a laugh when I saw the dreamy look on his face. _Alright, keep dreaming, I'll take care of picking dinner._

I wasn't even sure he had heard me. I told Granny what we would have, and turned again to Killian. At last, he seemed to resurface.

"Since you didn't know what you wanted to eat, I took the one which is a mix of everything."

"You're perfect," he commented.

 _I've just picked something for dinner._ He pecked my lips and that was when I was fooled: it was too late when I realized Granny was handing us the bag she had just finished preparing, because he had already given her a bill.

"Killian…"

And he looked pleased with himself.

"I'm not letting you pay," he said with a smirk.

"So old-fashioned," I commented while taking the bag.

This only amused him even more. "That's what you get from dating a man who's been alive for centuries." My lips parted but no word came out as I simply couldn't find anything to say. He took advantage of my silence to add, "And I'm not done being old-fashioned."

 _What?_ But before I had time to guess what he was about to do, I felt the bag escape me.

"Killian! You only have one hand." _And I want to hold this hand._

He seemingly knew the reason of my complaint as he took the bag with his hook and said, while showing me his hand, "Not a problem, my hand's still yours." _Oh well, then, I guess you can carry the bag._ "Let's go, love."

With his arm in my back, I let him lead me outside. The docks were not very far, but I was afraid someone would come and announce us the next crisis, in the meantime depriving us of this evening we had planned. I kept glancing around, and I noticed Killian was doing the same.

Luckily, we reached the Jolly Roger before meeting anyone, and quickly set sail. Having been on board several times already, I knew how to help him and, soon, we put some distance between us and the shore. It was not the first time I was on board, but it was the first time I could truly enjoy it, without having in mind some mission to save someone or even the whole town; standing at the railing, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the salty air of the ocean.

"Come with me." His voice was soft. I had not heard him come. I looked back at him and saw he was holding out his hand.

"Where are we going?"

"Come," he simply answered with a smile.

Taking his hand, I followed him while wondering what he had in mind. Quickly, I noticed he was taking me to the bow of the ship, and I felt a smile stretching my lips as I thought of a movie.

"Are you giving me my Titanic moment?"

"Tita-what?"

I repressed a laugh; of course he would not catch the reference. "I really need to make you watch all those movies." The thought was enough to make me drift and think about moving again. "In our house, we already have the couches, we should add a TV, Henry will want one anyway." But I considered the idea and hesitated. "Or maybe I shouldn't make you watch them, because I find it rather adorable that you never know what I'm talking about."

Though willing to share all those things with him, I also loved that he didn't know all those references coming from the world where I had grown up, because it was a reminder the man I loved was coming from an enchanted world.

"Let me choose for you," he said. "If you make me watch those movies, does that mean I'll spend whole evenings holding you in my arms?"

I smiled at the idea of evenings spent lying on the couch in his arms. "Maybe." _If Storybrooke is, one day, peaceful enough for this._

"Then, you should make me watch those movies. Or perhaps just a few of them, enough to keep our evenings busy, but not all of them so you can still quote things I don't know."

 _Nice compromise._ "Then, I should make you watch Titanic."

"What is it?"

"Titanic is the name of a ship. The movie is about two people who fall in love, and there's one moment when the man leads the woman to the bow of the ship, and he holds her like this." Grabbing his hand and his hook, I placed them on my hips. "And she does this."

Leaning back against him, I outstretched my arms while looking at the horizon in front of us.

"Wait," I said. My ponytail was stopping me from fully enjoying the wind; I removed the rubber band and lightly shook my head to leave my hair loose. "Even better."

It was perfect: leaning back into him with my arms outstretched and my hair floating in the wind, it felt like living a dream; I had been willing to do this so many times, and here he was, making my dreams come true without even realizing. I thought it couldn't be any better, but I was wrong: I felt his lips on my neck and wasn't fast enough to bite my lip as a sound had time to escape.

My voice was just a whisper when I talked. "He doesn't do that, but I won't complain about this interpretation of the story."

I could feel his lips stretch into a smile against my skin. His hand and his hook, until then on my hips, slipped across my stomach as he wrapped me in his arms, in the meantime pulling me closer to him. This was when I got lost: I could only focus on his lips which had seemingly parted on my neck, and on the soft and wet touch of what I guessed was his tongue against my skin.

"Killian…"

His name escaped me. There was no point in keeping my arms outstretched anymore and I grabbed his wrists instead.

 _Stay like this, forever._

It was like my whole world was him. And this world was on fire. Willing to be even closer to him, my jaw brushed his cheek and his lips found mine. I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his neck. His hand reached my thigh and my leg found itself at the level of his waist.

 _Closer._

It just felt natural to lift my second leg up. But it was still not enough. It felt like only kissing him even more thoroughly would appease the fire burning inside me. Everything seemed to move and I didn't realize it was because he had stepped back and leant against the railing. All I could feel was that he was replying to the kiss with the same intensity and holding me against him even more tightly, and it only seemed to feed the fire some more. My hands slipped down his neck and I gripped the collar of his shirt. When shivers ran through my body, I realized he had slipped his hand under my clothes, on my hip.

 _Killian, wait._

Then I realized my fingers were about to unbutton his shirt.

 _Emma, what are you doing? Sending the wrong signals. Stop._

I tugged at his bottom lip and grabbed his hand to stop it from slipping up.

"We should eat."

These were the first words which came to me as I looked for an alternative activity. Suspecting that I would give in to him if I stayed so close, I resisted the temptation to lean against him and got back on my feet.

"Swan…"

 _Oops._ "Sorry, I didn't want to…" _Turn you on. Can't say it like that._ "I didn't mean to…"

I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't find the words. My cheeks suddenly felt warm and his smoldering look certainly didn't help.

"Didn't mean to what?" he asked while giving me his irresistible look.

 _Why the hell are you doing this?_ I could feel I was blushing even more.

"I didn't mean to… to make you think that… Well, you're a man." _Nicely spotted, Emma._

He seemed quite amused. "Oh, I'm a man? Don't you forget it."

 _Oh gosh, what game are you playing at?_ I still felt the need to explain. "I mean… I got carried away."

"Kisses on the neck on the bow of the ship lead to a loss of control. Noted."

The way he had quirked the corner of his mouth was saying it all: he was deliberately teasing me. _Dammit. And it doesn't have to happen on the bow of the ship._ My cheeks were burning.

"But I get it," he went on. "Still not the time to pillage and plunder."

 _Killian Jones, stop it!_

"Stop talking." Before he had time to complain, I pressed my lips on his own. _You want to play the teasing game? I can play as well._ I purposefully placed my hand on the top of his thigh and couldn't help smiling when hearing him moan. He tried to pull me closer, and I resisted. "Let's have dinner."


	3. Chapter 3

"Let's have dinner."

I went to fetch the bag containing our dinner, which we had left a few meters away. As soon as I was away from him, I took a deep breath, followed by a second one. _Calm down, Emma._

A part of me was still wondering why I had stopped him. The most plausible reason was that I had been taken by surprise, losing control without realizing, and feeling his hand I had not expected to be on my hip. When I went back to him, he still hadn't moved.

"Can we eat on the railing?" I asked.

"Sure!" he approved.

The other option I had considered if we didn't want to sit on the wood planks was to bring the table from the quarters to the deck, but the railing of the ship seemed even better to me.

As I climbed over the railing, he almost made me start with surprise. "Swan! What are you doing?"

"Sitting on the railing."

 _Did you think I wanted to sit on the railing and face the deck?_ The thought amused me.

"You will excuse me, my Killian," I said while pressing a light kiss on his cheek. "I love your ship, but I prefer a view on the ocean."

"Oh, you prefer an ocean view?" _And here's the return of the teasing captain._ "Perhaps we should move to the other railing, so that you can have your ocean view, _and_ enjoy the sunset."

 _Point taken._ "Fine."

I couldn't deny that he was right, because he was; if I stayed where I was, the sunset would happen behind me. But not denying he was right didn't mean I would admit he was. Without saying anything else, I got up and went to sit on the other railing. I noticed how close to me he was standing, as if he was afraid I might fall off the ship. But at last, I was settled.

"You didn't need to worry," I pointed out. "I've done things much scarier than sitting on a railing."

"Perhaps that's exactly why I'm careful," he said while sitting by my side. I had been teasing him, but he seemed to be truly worried. "I've lost you so many times, I'm not taking any risk to lose you again, especially over a simple railing."

"Killian, you're not going to lose me."

I replied rather fast, mostly because I couldn't stand the thought of losing him again. I had seen him die enough times already; each time he had come back, but what if it happened again and I lost him for good? The thought was simply unbearable. It couldn't happen.

"Even if we get separated somehow… We've been through so much, lately… We'll always find our way back to each other." I had to believe.

"You're right," he said, obviously willing to believe as well. "Let's agree that we won't let anything come between us."

"I agree."

 _Should we sign a deal to make it official?_ Feeling the need to feel him close to me, I went to lean my forehead against his own.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I know." It was only when I opened my eyes and saw him look at me that I realized I had closed them. "I love you too."

I kissed him, or perhaps he was the one initiating the kiss, or maybe we both did at the same time. Then I kept my forehead against his, resisting the temptation to reach his lips again.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

 _For more kisses?_ But I guessed he was talking about food and I took a moment to consider his question. _Am I hungry?_

"I think I am."

Of course, with him, I had forgotten about eating. I grabbed the bag from Granny's and brought the basket out of it. As expected, it had cooled down.

"I need to warm it up a bit, it'll taste better."

Holding the basket with both hands, I focused to use my magic. I had tried this trick already twice; I knew it would work. The warmth I was expecting reached my hands and golden sparks appeared. I glanced sideways at Killian and felt my lips stretch into a smile. Gazing at my hands, he looked like a child fascinated by something that remained not fully understood. He didn't even seem to notice I was looking at him. I could feel the basket was warm enough but I didn't stop, just to be able to make the moment last longer. My favorite part about using magic was definitely not the magic itself; it was Killian, always. He looked up and caught my eye, and I stopped my hands from flaring while I drowned in his eyes, which were full of tenderness and admiration. I was losing myself and a single word came to my mind at this moment. _Swooning._

"You're amazing." His words guided me back to the real world.

"It's nothing, I just…"

"Used your magic," he completed my sentence. "You won't convince me that this is not amazing."

"Well…" I knew nothing I would say could change his point of view. I didn't want to do so, anyway; I didn't want to change the way he was looking at me when I was using my magic. I handed him the basket. "Help yourself."

The basket, which Killian placed on his lap, contained a mix of chicken nuggets, onion rings, fries, salad and cherry tomatoes. Thinking of the man sitting by my side, I ate very distractedly; I might have eaten all the onion rings, but there was no certainty about this, as I was barely aware of what I was picking. The sun went down and soon flirted with the horizon. The colors of the sky looked amazing.

"That's beautiful. I've rarely taken time to admire a sunset, even less on the ocean like this. You must have watched so many."

"Aye, indeed. But tonight is better than ever."

"Really? Why?" I examined the sky. _Is there something unusual? Some astronomical event?_

"Swan, do you really need to ask?"

Until then leaning my head against his shoulder, I looked up, surprised by his tone. He was examining me, probably wondering whether the woman he loved was so ignorant of astronomy. _Sorry, I know nothing about the sun and the sky._

"You, of course," he said. "It's the first time I admire a sunset with my true love."

"Oh." _Adorable._

"What did you imagine?"

"You're going to think that's stupid."

"Never. Not when it comes from you."

 _I would have warned you._ "I thought there was something special about the sky or the sun. Something I wasn't aware of because I know nothing about astronomy."

"To each his own."

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't that what you say when you mean every one of us has their own area of expertise?" He chuckled. "That exactly proves my point: see, it's alright you know nothing about astronomy, because in the meantime, I know nothing about technology and all those modern things. I'm sure that's not true by the way, you do know some stuff. Anyway, my point is: that's alright. Because I'm learning about modern things, just like you'll learn everything about the stars. I can teach you."

"I'd love that." My arm still in his back, I leant my head back against his shoulder, with a smile on my lips. I thought again of how this conversation had started and dreamily repeated, "True love."

"Aye, true love. And Zeus-approved."

"That's one of my favorite parts." We wouldn't be here, or even together, if it wasn't for Zeus.

"The part when he says it's time to take me back where I belong, and he sends me straight back to you."

As much as I loved the idea of a god sending me the man I love straight back to me, I was realistic. "He actually sent you to your grave… Where your body was lying."

"And where _you_ were. 'It's time to take you back where you belong,' that's his words; 'it's time.' He surely knew you were there. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been time."

I felt my mouth slightly fall open. We had already talked about what had happened and how he had come back, but this was the first time he was giving this meaning to Zeus' words, and I loved the idea too much to try and find some argument against it.

"Zeus-approved," I simply repeated.

"Our love is so true it's been blessed by a god."

I just couldn't resist him when he was saying such things; on that night, I actually couldn't resist him, period. Keeping my left arm in his back, my right hand went to his cheek and I captured his lips with mine. He kissed me back instantly and the fire was burning again. The only thing that stopped me from leaning even more against him was the fact that we were sitting on the railing, the ocean waves crashing against the hull of the ship right below our feet.

"You're going to miss the part when the sun disappears below the horizon," he whispered against my lips, letting me feel his warm breath against my mouth.

 _Not my fault. I just can't resist you._ I was gazing at him and he looked amused. Leaning forehead against forehead was something we had done a hundred times; feeling his breath brushing my lips was not new but yet, at this moment, it was seemingly intoxicating and irresistibly attractive. My eyes riveted on his lips, I tried to capture them again, but he pulled back, the corner of his mouth quirked into a smirk.

"I don't want you to miss the sunset because of me."

 _But I want you._ I stopped myself before saying anything and sat up straight, holding my hands together on my lap, and taking a deep breath while I looked at the horizon. _Pull yourself together, Emma._

His hand covered mine. "Are you alright, love?"

"Yes," I answered absent-mindedly. "The sunset is beautiful."

"Emma." He waited for me to look at him before going on, "I know when something's bothering you. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." But this answer wasn't enough as he truly looked worried. "Killian, I can assure you, everything's fine. I'm fine. More than fine."

"More than fine?" he repeated.

 _Of course you wouldn't let me escape so easily._ He only seemed confused, looking at me while raising an inquiring eyebrow, and I felt like I had to explain.

"I, uh…" _No, Emma, now is not a time to blush._ "Have you ever felt like you love someone so much that you're overwhelmed with all those feelings?"

A bright smile lit up his face and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders to pull me closer and kiss my cheek. "I have. A countless number of times. Always with you."

"So now, you believe me if I say everything's alright?"

"Aye. There's nothing wrong with true love."

 _True love._ I always loved hearing him say these two words. "I really didn't like the circumstances leading to it, but I love that we got to pass this test. I was seeing my parents, and true love seemed to be so rare. I never thought I would have it."

"That is until we fell in love," he completed my sentence.

 _Until we fell in love._ A question tickled my curiosity; a question I had never got the occasion to ask. "Why did you fall in love with me?"

"Why?" Both his eyebrows were up, and this look meant the answer should be obvious. Gazing at me, he quirked his smile at the corner. "Because you're flawless. You're everything I could have ever dreamed of."

 _Wow._ Considering my present emotional state, maybe avoiding asking this question would have been wise; _of course his answer would be swoon-worthy._

"I'd say the story of _how_ I fell in love with you is much more fascinating," he added.

 _How you fell in love?_ This promised to bring some swoon-worthy moments as well and, whether I'd be able to handle that, I didn't know. But the evening was just perfect; him and me, just the two of us aboard the Jolly Roger, sailing away from the rest of the world. The story he had in store sounded ideal for the occasion.

"Is this a story you'd like to share?"

"Only if you'd like to hear it," he said with a lopsided smile.

"Tell me."


	4. Chapter 4

"I'd say the story of _how_ I fell in love with you is much more fascinating."

"Is this a story you'd like to share?"

"Only if you'd like to hear it," he said with a lopsided smile.

"Tell me."

These were seemingly the words he was willing to hear. He didn't wait any longer before starting his tale.

"It started when we first met. Of course, I didn't know yet. But that's when it all started. When you found me, there were your mother and these two other women with you, but guess who caught my eye? You. And you definitely got my attention when you held a dagger against my throat and tied me up to a tree."

This was so unexpected that I couldn't repress a laugh. "So I won your heart by threatening you?"

"Not my heart, love, not yet." He seemed to hesitate. "You do realize telling this story requires me to talk about the man I was before, when you first met me?"

 _Oh, I see._ Again, I was unable to hide my amusement. "The man who was seeing women as nothing more but distractions for the night. Yes, I see. I haven't won your heart straight away, I just… turned you on by tying you up to a tree?"

"Not a very flattering portrait, is it?" He let out an adorable chuckle. "For my defense, I think I did realize from the first day that there was something special. You had such fire… You still have, by the way." _If you knew…_ I focused on his words to avoid thinking of the fire burning inside me. He went on, "I had never met a woman like you before. On the beanstalk, I was truly hoping it'd be you, because you had made me curious, and I wanted to know more about you, besides what I could already read in your eyes."

"Your open book," I said with what sounded like a dreamy voice. From the start, I had been fascinated by his ability to read me. "I didn't understand how, in such a short time, you seemed to understand me better than anyone had done in my whole life."

"Aye. I didn't admit I saw myself in you, because I didn't truly understand it at the time. I just knew I had never felt like this with a woman. And how lucky I am, this woman happened to be the most beautiful one."

"There must be plenty of women more beautiful than I am."

"You really don't realize, do you? I'll give you one example: on this night when I was hit by a car, I was lying on the side of the road. I had totally deserved this situation, but at this moment, I was only conscious of this pain keeping me on the ground. That is until I saw you."

I knew what he was talking about: he was talking about this moment when he had shot Belle and made her amnesiac, and while everyone was worried about her, my poor Killian was lying on the ground, alone and injured. So, I had come to him.

"There was just enough light for me to see your face, and I can assure you I've never seen any woman as beautiful as you. For a second, I even forgot about the pain. Though it did come back fast."

 _Not surprising, considering how Gold attacked you._

"Speaking of this moment," he added, "I've never thanked you for stopping the crocodile from finishing me."

"I was doing it for Belle." _Or at least that's what I was claiming, that Gold had to stop because of the first impression he would give her._

"Aye, whatever your reasons were, thank you."

He looked like he believed me; he believed I had done it just for Belle. But that was a lie. I couldn't repress a smile. "Alright, let's admit it. I was worried. Not so worried about the car, but about Gold. The way he attacked you whereas you were already lying on the ground... I don't know how much you remember, because I don't know when precisely you passed out, but we got in the ambulance and…"

"You were with me in the ambulance?" he interrupted.

"Yes. And when we arrived at the hospital, I was afraid Gold would come after you, so I asked the nurse to hide you."

"You did that? And here I was, thinking at this moment that you didn't give a damn about me."

"That's what I thought too." _And then I've used the excuse I needed to ask you about Cora's whereabouts to stay with you until you'd wake up._

"I don't seem to recall what happened from the moment when you stopped the crocodile from finishing me. There were lights, perhaps that was the ambulance, but I'm not sure. The next moment I remember is waking up in this place I didn't know, everything was so white there. Though I wasn't really interested in knowing where I was, because I woke up and there you were, sitting on the edge of my bed. I guess I wasn't awake enough to remember everything, but I remember very clearly this moment when you were leaning over me and telling me to keep smiling. I must admit I'm not sure I've heard what you said next, but I do remember staring at you and wondering whether that was real."

"I do remember this moment." _How could I not remember all of these innuendos?_ "And I can tell you were not very subtle with your words."

It seemed to amuse him. "I'm unfortunately not surprised, that's how I was at that time. What I wasn't realizing was that I was more than just interested in you. I mean, I could feel there was something more, but I guess there was simply too much darkness inside me to realize that I was in love with you. But little by little, hints that you were the one I wanted, the one I _truly_ wanted, mounted up. Little by little, you pushed the darkness away, and at last I could see the light. I could see that I wanted to share much more than a simple night with you: I wanted to share with you my life, my future."

I was gazing at him, and drowning in his eyes. "When… How did you start to realize?"

"We were at Granny's. I was planning on stealing the bean and leaving Storybrooke on my own. Which I actually did. But at Granny's, you told me something. You gave me the choice between being alone like I had always been, and being a part of something. You also told me we understood each other." I barely remembered saying this. I didn't say anything and waited for him to go on. "I was on my ship, I had the magic bean and I was thinking of where I could go, but all I could think of was you. Your voice kept resounding in my mind. On that day, I realized I was unwilling to go anywhere you were not. I wanted to be a part of that something. Whatever that might be, I was interested if that something included you. So I came back."

 _Wow._ _You came back because of words I don't even remember saying._ Gazing at him, captivated by the story he was telling, I kept saying nothing and only listened.

"But even then, I wasn't aware of the extent of your power over me. Henry had been kidnapped and I knew my ship could be of use. I didn't hesitate before offering my services. What a wonderful surprise it's been to know that the crocodile was joining." Irony was heavily lingering in his words.

"I could have reconsidered my offer, but I haven't, because I knew that, if I wanted to be with you, I had to welcome aboard my ship the man I've spent centuries trying to kill."

I didn't know him so well at that time. I had not realized how much of a sacrifice it had been for him to have Gold on board; he had accepted to collaborate with the one he hated the most, for me. _You chose me._ "And here I was, wondering why you had suddenly joined the hero side."

He chuckled. "Aye, you were the reason why. I chose love over revenge. Even if I still didn't know at this moment that it was love. Your father saw right through me. He knew I was there for you; perhaps it was more obvious to him than it was to me. He told me you'd never like me."

"He said that?" Again, I was unable to stop myself from laughing.

"Aye. But don't worry, I've grown up on him, he told me so in the Underworld," he announced smugly. "He was saying he had come for you, but then he confessed."

We were both amused. Even if I wasn't aware of what they had been saying to each other, I had witnessed the evolution of their relationship; from pirate and prince who couldn't stand each other, they had grown to polite adults respecting each other, and now Killian was considering my father as his mate, while my father had not hidden his enthusiasm when Killian had returned from the Underworld, and had even hugged him.

"You two are adorable," I commented.

"I'm not convinced adorable is the most accurate word. Anyway, I'm very glad you proved him wrong on the part when he said you'd never like me. And perhaps proved _me_ wrong. Even talking to you happened to be challenging, and there were times when I was wondering where this all was leading me. But I had come to Neverland for you, I couldn't give up so easily. So I kept trying, following an instinct I was not really understanding then; I just knew I wanted you. And it happened: you kissed me."

I smiled at the memory of how he had convinced me to do so. "And you were the one who couldn't handle it."

"Indeed. I didn't expect it'd come as such a revelation."

 _And I didn't expect you to approve; I couldn't really handle it either._

"It was like the fog had lifted and I knew; I knew that I was in love with you."

My breath caught at those words which were overwhelming me with love. I leant my head against this shoulder. "I love this story; our story."

"Wait, I'm not done with it. You asked me how I fell in love with you, and I told you how I realized I was in love with you. But that's not even the best part of it."

I looked up. "What do you mean?"

"I loved you already, but that was nothing compared to how much I love you now. Every day, I love you more than the day before. And it seems impossible to me right now, but tomorrow I will probably love you even more than I do now."

"Killian…" _That's the most beautiful thing I've ever been told._

I didn't know whether I preferred to look at his eyes or at his lips, but at last, I went for his lips and kissed him.

"I love you."

"And I love you," he answered with a bright smile. He was looking me in the eye and I was drowning. I could see something happening there. It looked like something had suddenly made him curious, and I soon knew what it was about, as he was the one to break the silence. "How did _you_ fall in love with me?"


	5. Chapter 5

"How did _you_ fall in love with me?"

"How I… Wow." I didn't know how I could tell such a story, or even where to start, but it only seemed fair that he returned the question. "Well… I'd say our adventure in the past; when I fell through Zelena's time portal and you followed me. You didn't have to do this."

"What would a pirate's life be without some adventure?" he asked with his adorable crooked smile. "But that's not the reason why I followed you, of course. I didn't want to let you land alone into an unfamiliar world. And I especially didn't want to be in Storybrooke without you. There was no choice to make, and if I had to do it again, I would follow you in a blink of an eye; I'd rather be lost with you than in a place I know without you." I did it again: I got lost into his eyes and didn't think of replying anything, which he seemingly noticed. "So that's when you fell in love with me? During this adventure in the past?"

"What? No. I guess I fell in love with you much earlier, but at first, it was obvious to me that we could not be meant for each other. I mean, I was seeing in you only a pirate; a potentially dangerous pirate I couldn't trust no matter how handsome he was."

My cheeks warmed up at these words, and it became even worse when he added with a chuckle, "At least, you noticed my handsomeness."

I laughed. _Never missing an occasion for such a reminder, are you?_

"That might have been the first thing I've noticed," I answered with a laugh. "Even despite those rags you were wearing when we first met. But then, I've noticed more than your good looks: you came back and we went to Neverland, and you let me see there was some good in you. The problem was not you anymore, it was me, because I…"

"Love, I won't let you think you're the problem," he interrupted.

"But I was," I insisted. "Because you kept showing me you were not that bad pirate I thought you were, but I was in denial, fighting against myself not to admit my feelings. Because of my walls."

"Walls which are one of the many reasons why I love you," he softly interrupted again. "Because you let me be the one to break them down."

 _Killian…_ "I know."

He was threatening to make me lose the thread anytime if he kept saying such things. I reached for his hand and intertwined my fingers with his own.

"I'm just saying that…" I went on, searching for my words. "Well, in Neverland, I wouldn't have kissed you if, deep down, I hadn't wanted to. But my walls were just too high for me to see that I was enjoying your presence more than I was allowing myself to realize. The adventure in the past was the moment when you made my walls shatter. We were just the two of us and, besides all those moments we had, like when we danced at the royal ball, you… Well, no one had ever done for me what you did. You followed me through the portal, you found a way to bring us back to Storybrooke, you…"

"I didn't do it on my own, love. I'd say most of it was you. We made quite the team; we always have, from the start."

"Yes," I confirmed as memories of the beanstalk swept through my mind. "But you also made me realize Storybrooke was where I belonged, with my family. And with you. When we were at Granny's after we came back, there was this party for my brother, and I could only think of the one who was missing: you. I saw you were sitting outside, so I came to you. And again, you showed me how much you cared about me. In my entire life, I had never felt as important to someone as I was feeling to you at this moment. I had heard you talk about your ship, I knew it was like your home, and knowing you had traded it for me…"

I didn't know how to finish my sentence but I didn't need to; Killian wrapped his arms around my waist and I felt his lips on my cheek. They lingered there for a moment, until a shiver ran through my body when I heard him whisper in my ear, "You are my home."

Closing my eyes, I leant against him, silently enjoying his warm embrace.

"Was that the end of your tale?" he asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, the story," I suddenly remembered. "No, there is something else I want to say. After this moment at Granny's…"

"When you kissed me on your free will for the first time," he completed.

A giggle escaped me. "Yes. After this moment, I was not done fighting against myself, because admitting to myself how much I cared about you led to something new: the fear of losing you. Because every time there'd been something good in my life, it had been taken away from me, and I was afraid that letting myself love you would lead to me losing you."

"This moment when you said this, while I thought you were running away from me because you didn't trust me," he said while softly playing with my fingers, "That's when I realized you actually cared about me and were even considering the idea of being with me."

"And you found the words I needed to hear to reassure me." _And you kissed me, and what a kiss that was!_

"And on the next day you were asking me out on a date," he reminded me.

"Yes, that's what I wanted to talk about. Our first date. You've done so well that…"

"Why, thank you," he interrupted, a crooked smile on his lips. "A princess deserves a worthy date."

My lips stretched into a wide smile but I went on without taking his comment into account. "You've done so well that you made me forget about the Snow Queen. That, I think, I told you. But do you know that, after this goodnight kiss on the doorstep, when I entered the apartment, I needed to lean back against the door?"

There was just enough light for me to make out a smug smile on his face. "Did I sweep you off your feet?"

 _Definitely feeling smug._

"Maybe," I answered. _No way I'm giving you the satisfaction of admitting you indeed did._

"What happened next?" he asked, amused.

"I jumped with surprise when I realized my parents had been waiting for me."

"They were waiting for you?"

"Yes. Parents; they wanted to know how it went. They wanted to hear everything about it. Especially my mother, she was asking so many questions."

"And what did you say?" I could perceive the smugness in his voice.

"I said I was going to bed. But if you want to know: I heard my mum say I seemed happy. Well done." _Let's make you feel even more smug._ I became serious again. "Really, this first date was amazing, kind of like a breathtaking confirmation that I wanted to be with you. And, well, we've been together since then."

He was gazing at me and I wondered whether I looked like this when I was getting lost in his eyes.

Since I wasn't sure he had noticed I had stopped talking, I notified him. "This time, that's the end of my tale."

"I know," he said with a lopsided smile. "I just enjoy gazing at you."

He pecked my lips and again looked at me with a smirk, and I wondered what he had in mind.

"I have one question to ask you."

 _Oh no, what's it going to be?_ His smirk was slightly worrying. "Yes?"

"It's about our adventure in the past." _Okay._ "When you kissed the past version of myself…"

 _I knew it._ I had felt, with his smirk, that his question would be an embarrassing one. My cheeks heated up, but he seemed to hesitate, as if thinking of something, and I wondered whether he decided to ask another question.

His tone was filled with curiosity when he asked, "Did it feel any better than the way I'm kissing you?"

I burst out of laughter before teasing him. "Are you afraid you've lost your ability to kiss due to aging?"

"Swan!" He sounded offended and it just made me laugh even more; I knew he was not blaming me, anyway. "You know age is just a number. I might have been sailing the seas for a long time, but everything's working just as fine as ever." Knowing I would laugh if I talked, I said nothing, and he went on. "I was thinking of the way I was doing it; perhaps was I… wilder, before?"

"You're actually worrying about your ability to kiss," I remarked.

"No," he denied. "I'm just curious."

"Well… his kiss was wild indeed, but I can assure you it was not wilder than some of the kisses you gave me."

"Good!" Again there was this smugness in his voice, and the smirk came back. "But that was not the question I wanted to ask." _Really?_ I waited for his question, which came soon enough. "How far were you ready to go?"


	6. Chapter 6

"How far were you ready to go?"

 _Oh no…_ My cheeks were burning. Of all the questions I could have imagined, this was probably one of the most embarrassing ones. "You mean… if I had needed to distract him even longer?"

"Yes," he said, still smirking.

"I had to keep him occupied. Our mission was very important."

Of course, he didn't let me escape so easily, and teasingly repeated his question, "How far were you ready to go?"

"I… I don't know. He offered me a nightcap, he would have found someone else to take to his quarters, if it wasn't me. I just knew I had to distract him, so I followed him. I didn't really plan anything, I just improvised." This was true, actually: I didn't know. Would have I done it? I was tempted to think I wouldn't have; I didn't know Killian as much as I knew him now, and I would have probably stopped his past-self from bringing it to the next level. Unless… could have I got carried away? Maybe. It felt like my cheeks were on fire.

"Improvisation makes you kiss rather passionately," he commented, still teasing.

 _Because kissing him was part of the mission, and it just felt like kissing you; may as well make the most of it._ It was time for me to respond to all this teasing, and to try and escape his question in the meantime. "And jealousy makes you adorable. Do you realize you sort of punched yourself in the face?" I repressed a laugh at the thought.

"Love, you have to understand. I had been waiting for you to kiss me on your free will since our first kiss, and there I saw you kissing him like you had never kissed me before."

Trying to justify himself: my teasing had been efficient and knowing that made me feel rather smug. _Not such a smartass anymore, suddenly._ "He was _you_. I was kissing _you_."

"But I didn't feel it so our physical likeness didn't really matter to me."

I laughed and kissed him. It was only when I needed some air that I breathed and asked against his lips, "Did you feel that one?"

"Aye, that I did."

"Good." Passing my tongue over my lips, I looked up at the sky. This was what I loved about being on the ocean: it was so dark that an incredible number of stars was visible. The view was stunning. There were actually so many of them that I was unable to find the only constellation I knew. "You'll need to teach me all about this. Henry knows much more than I do." _And teases me about it whenever he has the chance._ "You taught him everything while I still know nothing."

"Sorry?" The tone of his voice made it useless to look at him; I could guess the crooked smile was there.

"No, don't apologize. I love that you spend all this time with him." I truly loved seeing the both of them spending some time together, and especially, enjoying it. Henry was always thrilled when coming back from a trip with Killian. "You'd make an amazing father."

My last sentence had come out as a whisper and I bit my lip while keeping my eyes on the stars, hoping that the darkness was hiding my blush. I was tempted to look at him and judge his reaction, but I didn't dare to do so. He took my hand and played with my fingers, before finally saying something. "Do you really mean that?"

"Yes." I gave in to temptation and looked at him, thinking again of what he had said earlier. "Killian…" Now that I had called him, I had to say something, but I didn't know how to word my question. Despite the dark of the night, I could make out his features: he was waiting for me to talk. _Go on, Emma._ "Earlier, when we were at the house, and I asked you about the number of rooms… What you said… Did you really suggest that…" _Why can't the words simply slip out?_ The last part of my sentence then came out in one breath. "That our family could consist of more than Henry, you and I?"

"Aye."

A single word could be extremely powerful. Again, I was whispering. "You'd like to be a father?"

"Perhaps," he replied while looking up at the sky.

Looking away was not in his habits and I realized my question had possibly been slightly indiscreet. _Maybe broaching this subject is as difficult for him as it is for me?_ I leant my head against his shoulder, looking at the sky without really seeing it. _He wants to be a father._ The thought was incredibly touching, because imagining him as a father was simply making me feel like I was melting inside, and this was what had happened when we had first talked about it a few hours earlier: I had been overwhelmed with love at the thought. But then, it dawned on me that Killian becoming a father would make me go through what I had escaped with Henry, and the thought became rather scary. I couldn't be a mother. I was not ready for this. With Henry, it was alright now, but I had not been there for him during his ten first years, and now he was old enough to be rather independent. _Old enough to have a girlfriend._ Thinking of him and Violet made me smile. Killian was not aware about it, yet; Henry would without any doubt be entitled to his teasing whenever he'd have the occasion.

"I now realize why I haven't stargazed for so long." Killian pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked at him, wondering what he meant. "Stars can't compare to you."

He was flattering me and it worked, as I felt my lips stretch into a smile. He was looking at me and I held his gaze, wondering what he was thinking about. The more seconds went by, the more obvious it was that he had got lost in his thoughts. Even when I leant toward him, his gaze followed me but he didn't even bat an eyelid. It was only when our lips met that he reacted.

"Let me guess, I was miles away?" he asked.

"Thousands of miles away, I'd say." I loved the fact that he was as prone as me to get lost in his thoughts so easily, when we were together. "And I still don't know any of the stars shining above us."

"None of them?"

 _I told you I knew nothing about astronomy._ "Well, there's only one constellation I know, but there are so many stars that I can't even find it."

"What's its name?"

"The Great Bear."

"Ha, that's also the only one the lad knew before I started to teach him." I liked this fact. _Another point in common with Henry._ "It must be…" He looked up and, barely a second later, pointed at the sky with his hook. "Here."

I tilted my head back to look up at the sky. Though he had come closer to me so that his indication would be more accurate, the area he was pointing was rather large, and it took me a moment before, at last…

"Found it!" At least, I knew why I had not found it in the first place; it was high in the sky, behind me, in one of the most difficult spots to look at when sitting on a railing and trying not to fall off it. "How many constellations are there?"

"Many," he answered while keeping his eyes locked on me.

There was an uncountable number of stars; the number of constellations was undoubtedly rather impressive. "Do you know all of them?"

"Probably not."

 _Really?_ I had asked the question, but I had been convinced he knew them all. I looked up at the Great Bear again, but my neck didn't like it and I looked at the reflection of the moon on the surface of the ocean instead.

"Are you alright?" he asked, and I guessed he had been worried by how I had taken my hand to my neck.

"Yes." I let my hand fall to make sure he knew I was not lying, but it was clear to me that sitting was not the most comfortable position to stargaze. There was another option which seemed better, and it required getting off this railing. But I was certain that Killian wouldn't mind at all. I kissed him before whispering against his lips, "Follow me."

The challenge was to get off this railing as adroitly as possible, not to give Captain Tease another occasion to exercise his talents. I turned around while lifting up my feet to have them on the other side of the railing, and got off it. I was glad to feel that my move had been smoother than I had expected.

A smile stretched my lips when he asked, "Where are you going?"

"Come."

I didn't check whether he was following me or not, and decided that the place where I was standing was a good one; I lay down there, on the wood planks.

"What… What are you doing?" he asked.

 _Exactly the reaction I was hoping for._ Willing to see his face, I propped myself up on one elbow and let my magic flare as a ball of white light appeared in the palm of my hand.

"What?" I asked, delighted to see his look of confusion as he was obviously wondering what I was doing, lying down on the floor like this. _What were his words, again?_ It was difficult to hide my amusement. "There are plenty of activities a woman can do on her back, you know?" The look of growing confusion on his face made it impossible to repress a laugh. Hanging out with a teasing pirate had probably enhanced my abilities in this game. He looked so thoughtful that I gathered it could be useful to remind him of my reason to be lying down. "It'll be more comfortable to stargaze. Come."

But he didn't move and his attention seemed to get caught by the ball of light. "Since when do you make fireballs?"

 _Fireballs?_ "Since tonight. It was all dark and I wanted to see your face." _And it was priceless._ "And that's not a fireball, just a ball of light. That…" I let the white light fade out and lit up a fireball, whose light was much warmer and much less bright. "… would be a fireball."

Its light was just enough for me to see his face and, though I had been teasing him just the minute before, his look of admiration and wonder made me melt. All I wanted was to show him more of this magic he was seemingly so fond of, and I suddenly knew what to do with my fireball.

"Look." Even my voice was reflecting my mood change.

I mentally ordered the fireball to rise up into the sky and let it explode into red and gold fireworks. We found ourselves in the dark and I couldn't see his reaction, but I knew he was watching it.

"Wow, that was beautiful," he commented.

"Fireworks." I lit up another ball of light so that I could see him. _Adorable._ He was still looking up at the sky. "The first time I used my magic for this, you were not here. I had a feeling you'd like it."

"I love everything related to your magic. Or to you. You know it."

"I know." I saw him look me up and down, and couldn't resist the temptation to tease him again. "Now, are you going to stand there or will you come to me?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Now, are you going to stand there or will you come to me?"

At last he came closer. _About time!_ But he stopped at my feet and I saw his eyes travel over my body. _Are you coming or not?_ Then, without any warning, he knelt down and crawled to me. _Oh gosh!_ Seeing him come closer like this was rather impressive. My breath caught in my throat and, until then leaning on one elbow, I lay back down, keeping my eyes on the beautiful creature now hovering over me. His hand and hook were close to my shoulders and his arms were extended, his face about a foot above mine. Unwilling to be bothered by the ball of light in the palm of my hand, I let it float in mid-air and focused on Killian again. The view of him on a starry background was simply stunning. Lying on my back, not even moving, I was like a prey trapped under him. But the softness in his eyes was making him nothing of a predator. _Can I even be considered a prey if I'm delighted to be where I am?_ He was gazing at me and, besides the softness and the love, it seemed like there was also in his eyes a hint of amusement.

I was examining him when he asked, "What is it, love? Didn't you expect me to come to you?"

 _Not like that._ He gave me his irresistible smirk combined with the eyebrow, and it was enough to set alight the fire inside me. I reached for his neck but, before I had time to do anything, he came to me by himself and his lips crashed against mine. _I meant to stargaze, but I can go with this activity._ Our lips were locked together and his fingers were in my hair, but this wasn't enough; his body was still too high above mine. _Closer._ My hands slipped down and I grabbed his collar to try and pull him down to me, but he resisted. I tried to pull harder, but he still didn't move. _Not strong enough. Do you even feel I want you down to me?_ I changed my method and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He lowered his body but still kept some distance between us. _Why?_ Was it because he was afraid I would be squeezed between him and the planks? My thoughts were interrupted when his lips slipped to my neck. _Oh yes!_ I tightened my arms around him and wrapped a leg around one of his own, willing to keep him there and desperately trying to close the distance between us. His lips came back to mine but then, he pulled back, breaking my embrace visibly without any difficulty, and laid down by my side. _What?_

"Come here," he said.

"What are you doing?" Realizing the ball of light had gone off, I lit up another one and propped myself up on an elbow. He looked rather smug.

"Haven't you said we were here for some stargazing?" he asked.

"Right…"

He laughed and it was clear now; he had been willingly teasing me, making me want him in a way I would apparently not have him at the moment. _I should bear a grudge against you, right now._ But I simply couldn't blame him, especially when he was looking at me like this, playing innocent.

"Just offering you to be your pillow. I believe that I am more comfortable than planks of wood."

 _My pillow?_ As if reading my thoughts, which he probably did, he nodded. I tried to forget this need to feel him against me and, after stealing another kiss from him, I laid down with my head on his chest, shifting several times before finding a comfortable position. His chest was indeed better than the hard floor. He wrapped his left arm around me, letting it rest across my stomach. The stars became much more visible when I turned off the light.

"Beautiful."

"Aye," he confirmed. "And lying down was indeed a good idea."

"Did you doubt it?" I teased.

"Never." I felt his chest shake under my head as he chuckled. "Not when the idea comes from you."

 _Good._ "Well, now that we're comfortably settled, how about you teach me?"

"Your wish is my command."

I giggled and settled myself, placing my left arm along his own and grabbing his hook with my right hand, making sure his arm would stay around me.

"Well, let's start there," he announced, pointing at the sky right above us. "There are three stars brighter than the other ones, forming a triangle, can you see them?"

"Yes."

"These three stars are part of a constellation named Leo."

He indicated other stars being part of the constellation and told me what I was supposed to see. But I was looking at the stars and couldn't see it.

"And you're saying that's supposed to depict a lion?"

 _Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way?_ I tilted my head to see it differently, and he laughed.

"You were seeing it the right way round."

The fact he had laughed made me stubbornly repeat, "It does not look like a lion."

Again, he seemed amused. "I'm not saying there was no rum involved when they traced and named them." _Rum, that'd explain everything._ "If you asked me, I'd tell you that's a swan," he said. _A swan, of course._ A wide smile spread on my lips. "The constellation Cygnus already depicts a swan, but it depicts a flying one. That one would be swimming."

"A swan, why not." Now that he was saying it, I could actually see a swan rather easily; more than a lion, anyway. But when trying to see a lion, I had imagined something else. "I was more thinking of a hook, if you look at the stars supposed to be the front part of the lion."

"A hook and a swan; I like this. For the defense of those who named these constellations, I only showed you the main stars. That's what I meant when I told you I didn't know all of them; each one is composed of more stars than I know. Other stars, less bright than those I've showed you, are supposed to be the lion's paws."

"But there are so many stars…" _That's too easy._ "We can actually just pick the ones we want and draw anything."

"Aye, that's quite right. Perhaps you could even create your own constellation. But I'm afraid it's unlikely to ever be commonly used."

 _Don't tempt me to create the Hook constellation._ "Before doing that, maybe I should learn about the existing ones. You said there was a swan constellation?"

"Aye. The Cygnus."

He showed me the Swan constellation and then pointed a few other ones, and I tried to remember each one of them. Fascinated by his knowledge, I was hanging on his every word when he talked about the Milky Way or explained what a shooting star was.

"You know, if you want me to get undressed, you just need to ask," he said after pointing another constellation.

"Uh?" I simply didn't understand where this was coming from.

"My arm," he said with a chuckle.

I realized I was not holding his hook anymore and, instead, my fingers had slipped inside the sleeve of his leather jacket and were playing with the button of the sleeve of his shirt. "Oh."

"Aye, this is why I'm saying you just need to ask if you want me to get undressed."

"I thought we were here to stargaze?" I playfully repeated his words, trying to hide my amusement; I had been carefully listening to him, my eyes following his hand as he pointed the different celestial bodies, and had not controlled my fingers.

He chuckled, recognizing the words he had used. "Still pouting me about this?"

"I'm not pouting." _Even if I considered the option._ "How did you resist?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean…" _Do you really not know what I mean?_ "I've kissed the past version of you, and this version of you wouldn't have resisted me if… if I had been lying on my back like I was. But even when I tried to pull you closer, you resisted."

Again, I felt his chest shake under my head. "Years of practice."

 _Years of practice, wow._ This made me wonder whether there was also this fire burning inside him, and how often he had got to fight against it. _You can stop fighting now._ Unwilling to let my thoughts drift any further – or the fire would be revived – I focused on the sky.

"Tell me more about the stars."

I didn't mean to sound so commanding but he didn't seem to blame me for it, and gleefully complied, indicating more stars and constellations. But now that he had made me noticed my fingers were inside his sleeve, I was unable to fully focus on what he was saying. I unbuttoned the sleeve of his shirt, which was separating my fingers from his skin, and slipped my hand further along his arm. Soon, I was closing my eyes, listening to the sound of his voice and of the waves crashing against the hull of the ship, and focusing on the arm I was caressing, playing with his hair and enjoying his warmth.

When I opened my eyes, the sky seemed darker and I quickly understood why; the stars and the moon had disappeared behind thick clouds.

"Since when is it so cloudy?"

My question amused him. "Were you just lost in thoughts, or did you fall asleep?"

"How long have I not been responding?" I tried to look at him but, from this angle and in the dark, I couldn't see anything. _Did I let you talk to yourself?_ I didn't remember having heard him talk when I had opened my eyes; surely he had stopped talking.

"Perhaps twenty minutes," he answered.

 _Twenty?_ "And you said nothing?"

"Well, holding you like this, feeling your touch… that's rather pleasant. Our breaths were even synchronized."

His words made me sigh with delight and I felt the need to sit up to look at him, a new ball of light in my hand; with the cloudy sky, stargazing was impossible anyway. There was something irresistible in the way he was lying on his back with his hand under his head and gazing at me. My eyes were drawn to his smile, to these lips which were calling mine, and I didn't even try to resist before answering the call. My hands reached for his neck and I kissed him. Kneeling by his side was seemingly not the best option and, without thinking of what I was doing, I passed one leg on his other side and ended up straddling him, lying on top of him without leaving any distance between our bodies like he had done earlier. My lips momentarily stood still against his own as I focused on what I was feeling under me. _Is that…?_

"Emma…"

I smiled against his lips and went back to kissing him while my fingers followed his neckline. His hand was in my back but he seemed hesitant.

"Emma, love…" he whispered when I caught my breath. "You're really making it hard for me to resist you right now."

I lifted up my head and looked him in the eye. "Who said you had to resist?" _Nothing or no one to stop us. No responsibility. Just the two of us, alone on the ocean. Free. Stop resisting._

His smile was bright and beautiful. He pointed at the sky. "The clouds, there's a storm coming."

 _Obviously wrong when thinking nothing could interrupt us._ I looked up and, in the dark of the night, could not see more than just clouds. But if in such a moment he was saying a storm was coming, it was needless to call it into question. "Should we go to your quarters?"


	8. Chapter 8

"Should we go to your quarters?"

His smile widened and it was one of these moments when I felt like he could drill a hole in my head because he was looking at me so hard. His mouth quirked at the corner before he answered, "It'd be more reasonable to go home."

"Alright," I sighed.

 _Home._ It meant having to wait until we'd be there. The thought we shall still be just the two of us comforted me; after all, the plan didn't sound so bad.

I was looking him in the eye when he pulled me out of my thoughts. "Emma?"

"Uh?"

With a crooked smile, he indicated our bodies. Confused about what he meant, I inquiringly looked up and he chuckled. "As pleasant as it is to have you here, I'm afraid you'll need to move if we want to go home."

"Oh, sorry."

Lying on top of him like I was, he couldn't get up. After lightly kissing his cheek, I got back on my feet.

By the time the Jolly Roger was sailing back towards Storybrooke, the sky was wholly overcast and the wind was gusting, filling the sails of the ship. The waves were crashing against the hull noisily and, in the distance, the storm was rumbling. I squealed then laughed when large and cold drops of water surprised me and it was suddenly bucketing down.

"Go and take shelter in the quarters!" Killian shouted from behind the helm.

 _What's the point?_ A few seconds had been enough for me to be soaked; going to the quarters and waiting there alone would bring me no good. I finished tying up the rope and went to join him, a ball of light floating by my side. He was firmly holding the wheel, obviously fighting against the storm to keep it steady. I smiled when noticing there seemed to be just enough space for me to be where I wanted; I ducked under his arm and stood up right in front of him, with the helm in my back.

"You're going to be drenched. You should be in the quarters."

"Too late for that." I needed to speak loudly to be sure he would hear me despite the rain. "It already was before you had time to say anything. And I never listen."

I barely heard the sound of his laugh but I could see it. "I know. Unless… what if I told you to stay here with me in the rain?"

"I'd listen. Because that's what I want to do." _And I do what I want._

"So you want to get wet," he asserted and I opened wide eyes.

 _Because of the rain or because of you?_ I wondered whether the innuendo was intentional. "I just want you. A little rain won't stop me. We've been through far worse than this." But the cold rain in my face while I looked up at him was not very pleasant. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tiptoed. "Keep me warm."

I leant back against the wheel and pulled him down to me by capturing his lips. He stepped forward, making a moan escape through my lips as he pressed my body back against the wood, wrapping his arms around me and the wheel. Kissing him was making the rain much more bearable as his head was mostly hiding my face.

It happened to be nothing more than a shower as it stopped as abruptly as it had started. I could finally look up at him without being blinded by the rain, and my attention was caught by the water trickling from his messy hair. A smirk formed on his lips and I guessed he had noticed. A gust of wind made me shiver and automatically, he tightened his embrace.

"Still not regretting the quarters?" he asked.

"Not in the least."

"You'd be warmer there."

"That's not true." I was examining him, trying to know whether he was really thinking that, but he seemed to be serious. "You're warmer than the quarters."

He chuckled and kissed my forehead before hugging me, holding the helm at the same time.

With the wind filling the sails, the Jolly Roger approached Storybrooke faster than I expected. Staying in his arms and keeping company with him, talking and kissing and just being close to him, also probably participated in biasing my notions of time. On our way back to town, there were a couple other showers.

It was still raining heavily when we moored the ship to the dock.

"Come!"

Killian grabbed my hand when he was done with the ship and led me to town. We were both running in the rain. The advantage with this weather was a reduced risk of walking into someone we knew who would interrupt us. Maybe that was the reason why he was running; to be at home as soon as possible, without crossing anyone's path. Puddles were shining with the reflection of the streetlights and I was trying to avoid them, jumping over or dodging around them while keeping his hand in mine. Running in the rain in the dead of night, being with Killian and only him, without any care in the world; it just felt good, and I could feel my cheeks hurting from smiling so much.

He burst out in laughter when I jumped over a puddle which happened to be wider than I expected, and my foot noisily landed in the middle of it, splashing water around. He laughed but kept running, and I laughed as well, following him. That was when I noticed he was not bothering with trying to avoid the puddles and was running straight into them. I imitated him. Without needing to jump or dodge, I was able to run faster and even took the lead, before he caught up with me. We were running side by side, both still laughing without any valuable reason. For my part, I just knew our childlike behavior was somehow elating me, and happiness was coming out in the form of laughs. The only downside of laughing while running was that I quickly found myself panting.

"Emma, wait."

I barely had time to process his words. He stopped and pulled me towards him, letting go of my hand in the process as his own went in my back, finishing to pull me against him. _Hot._ My lips stretched into a smile as they were reunited with his own. Melting in his embrace, I didn't want to stop kissing him, but I had to; already panting before this unexpected break, I was now breathless.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"We both needed a break to catch our breaths."

I laughed. "So you're taking away the little breath I have left with a kiss."

"Aye, seems like it."

It had stopped raining. I had always been good at recovering, since my childhood when I had often needed to run; soon enough, I was ready to go.

I flashed him a playful smile before announcing on a defying tone, "The first to arrive wins!"

I didn't wait for his reaction and ran off, my lips stretched into a wide smile once again. I could see the white picket fence from there; just a few dozen meters left. I didn't need to look back to know he was following me. I was running as fast as I could, but it was not enough; he seemed to be closing the distance between us. The front door was just a few strides away. But I didn't have time to reach it. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back against him.

I could hear amusement in his voice when he asked, "Where did you think you were going?"

But I didn't have time to answer anything and uncontrollably wriggled in his arms as he pressed his fingers, accidentally it seemed, on my waist. He appeared to quickly understand what had happened and, if he had not meant to do that on the first time, it was purposefully that he looked for the spot again, and laughed when he found it and I wiggled in his arms, trying to escape his embrace.

But his arms were simply too strong; I couldn't escape. "Killian, stop!"

Of course, he didn't listen. He kept laughing and I was laughing as well, still struggling and gasping for air. At last, I managed to push his hand aside and protect my waist.

"That's a rather interesting spot I've found there."

"Don't!" He was threatening to tickle me again. The first thing I thought of to distract him from doing so was the challenge; we had reached the white picket fence at the same time. "Should we consider we both won?"

"Love, about what you said, there's something you need to learn." _What?_ He sounded serious and I looked back at him, wondering what he meant. "When you say the first to arrive wins, you have to mention what the reward is. Should I remind you how much pirates value treasures?"

At the end of his sentence, he smirked, and I flashed him a teasing smile in return. "And don't you say you're a man of honor? Isn't the honor to win enough of a reward?"

He seemed to consider the option for a second, before replying, "Hmm not interested."

"And what are you interested in?"

His mouth quirked at a corner. "You."

A gasp escaped me when he unexpectedly scooped me up, and I automatically wrapped my arms around his neck. "You don't need to win a stupid race for this." A drop of rain landed on my face and I indicated the house with a move of the head. "Maybe we should get inside before the next shower."

"Aye, don't worry, princess," he said with a chuckle, "I will save you from the treacherous rain."

"My hero!"

I laughed and captured his lips while he carried me bridal style to the entrance door.


	9. Chapter 9

"The key," he reminded me.

"Right."

He kept me in his arms while I reached for my pocket and opened the door. It was only after I had closed the door behind us and locked it that he put me down. We were both drenched. When I took off my boots, I could feel my tight jeans sticking to my skin. My eye was caught by Killian removing his leather jacket. _How can you make things that simple look so sexy?_

He chuckled when he saw me. "Not that I dislike the way you're gazing at me, love, but I think you should take off this soaking jacket of yours."

But I didn't carry it out; I was too busy watching him shake his head and pass his fingers through his damp hair, making it even messier than usual.

"Are my good looks the reason of your wandering?" he teased.

"Your hair looks good like this," I said while looking away, taking off my jacket and tossing it over the back of a chair.

"Well, doesn't it always look good?"

"Killian." I laughed and refused to give him the satisfaction to admit his hair always looked good indeed. "I wish it was as easy with my hair."

"You look beautiful," he said while I was passing my fingers through it.

"You're biased."

"No." He closed the distance between us and rearranged my hair over my shoulders. "You do look beautiful. But if it bothers you so much, why don't you use your magic?"

"My hair may be blond, but it's not magic like Rapunzel's."

"Like who?"

A giggle escaped me. "And here's another movie I can make you watch."

"Another evening keeping you in my arms on the couch to plan!"

"Yes."

I closed my eyes, still willing to try despite my apparent reluctance. He was right, I could probably use my magic. I was actually not doing it for my hair, but for another occasion to see this look of wonder on his face like every time I was using it. Focusing, I could feel the energy reaching my fingers, but that's not where I wanted it. It simply seemed to comply when I sent it back up my arms. The energy went up my neck, and reached my scalp. That was a weird feeling. Usually, magic was coming out of the tip my fingers, or out of my palms, but then I could feel warmth spreading all over my head. I mentally pictured a golden flare running down my hair, drying it at the same time. When I imagined it was done, I opened my eyes, and there it was: this look of loving admiration on his face, which never failed to make me feel like I was melting inside. Melting, and also burning. He closed the distance between us and passed his fingers through my hair, caressing my neck at the same time. My magic had worked; my hair was cascading over my shoulders, dry and wavy. But I didn't care about it. I only cared about the man standing in front of me. His mouth curved into a lopsided smile.

"Whose idea was it?" he asked smugly.

Again, he amused me. He had been right when suggesting me to use my magic indeed, but I wouldn't admit it. _Just stop talking._

Not even answering him, I pressed my lips against his own, stopping him from saying anything else. I had not expected him to answer so vigorously. He swept me off my feet, both figuratively and literally, as he lifted me up.

My legs wrapped around his waist and my arms around his neck, I was looking him in the eye and I could see him searching mine. I was his open book; he could surely guess what I was thinking about. I could see he was thinking about it too, but he seemed to be looking for some confirmation, so I nodded once. He flashed me a smile and captured my lips. They were still locked with his own when we reached the upper floor. Even then, he didn't put me down and entered our bedroom. I felt the door in my back as he pinned me against it to close it. His move was soft, but it only made the fire inside me even wilder. Breaking the kiss to catch my breath, I focused on my fingers which slipped down his neck and reached for the first button of his shirt.

"Emma… Are you sure?"

I looked up. "Do you really need to ask?"

But his question was obviously serious; here was my Killian, making sure he was not doing anything wrong.

"I'm sure," I confirmed while undoing the first button of his shirt.

His face lit up with a smile and he kissed me, keeping my body pressed between him and the door. Slowly, my fingers slipped down, unbuttoning both his vest and his shirt. I pushed them off his shoulders and they fell down when he unwrapped his arms from around me and put me back on my feet. I didn't have much time to admire his bare chest as my view was soon blocked by my sweater that he was taking off. One by one, different pieces of clothing piled up on the floor. Each part of him being revealed was feeding the fire inside of me and making my impatience grow.

He started to work on his hook, obviously intending to take it off, and I stopped him without thinking. "Keep the hook, I like it."

"I could scratch you," he warned and I bit my lip.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," I said while playing with the hook. _Keep it._ "Unless you prefer to take it off."

His eyes were locked on my hand which was trailing over his hook. "I might keep it."

We were both standing in the nude, and I was admiring him while trying to keep my breath steady. He took my hand and stepped back. I thought this was the part when he would lead me to the bed, but he stopped at its foot and I could feel his gaze as he looked me up and down. There was more light there than behind the door, enough for me to make out a thin line across the left half of his chest. I reached for the scar, my fingertips following the line. It was probably ancient, surely a relic of his early pirate's days. It didn't seem possible otherwise; his fighting skills were now too acute for him to get hurt. Barely distracted when his fingers had grazed over the side of my face and my neck, I was pulled away from my musings when they trailed around my breast and my breath caught in my throat. I looked up. He seemed to be completely absorbed, his eyes following his fingers.

"The view is even more beautiful than I've imagined." His voice was soft, so much that I wondered if he meant for me to hear his words.

"You're taking your time," I commented.

He looked up with his irresistible lopsided smile, his left eyebrow raised; it didn't help my growing craving for him.

"Trust me to know what I'm doing," he simply said while his hand slowly trailed down my side.

 _And what is that? Making me want you even more?_ The thought he was willingly making me wait crossed my mind. He was teasing me. I could do the same; maybe. I focused again on his chest; on this scar which happened to be just as attractive as any of his other features. I spotted another scar across his waist. He quivered when my fingers reached for it. _Good._

But in the meantime, I was craving for him more and more. I knew I wouldn't be able to resist him much longer. _What are you waiting for?_

"I expected you to be more… impatient," I let him know.

But his teasing side was seemingly prevailing over the wild instincts he was undoubtedly concealing: he stepped closer while his finger brushed my lips as if he was willing to silence me, and I felt the cool metal of his hook in my back while his warm breath grazed over my ear when he whispered, "When you've been waiting for a special moment for so long, you just relish every instant of it."

 _Dammit._ I had waited long enough. The few inches left between our bodies had become intolerable. I ran into him, placing my hands over his shoulders to push him.

 _Yes!_ What I wanted happened: we both fell down on the bed. I landed on top of him and caught the glimpse of a bright smile on his face, but barely had time to process anything as I quickly found myself under him and his lips avidly crashed against mine; at last, he stopped resisting.

* * *

When I woke up with a fulfilled smile stretching my lips, it took me less than a second to remember where I was; in Killian's arms, my head lying on his chest, a leg between his own, and my fingers curled around his necklace. I could hear and feel the beat of his heart right under my head; his heart which I had once held in my hands. His steady breathing let me guess he was still asleep. Letting go of his necklace, I softly caressed his chest and played with his hair. He did nothing to indicate he was awake, but his heart betrayed him. I looked up and, from where I was, all I could see was his neck and his jawline; an interesting view. An _irresistible_ interesting view. I shifted up just enough so that I could kiss his neck.

"This was not a dream," he said, making his throat vibrate under my lips.

I shifted up some more and pulled myself on top of him. "Have you often dreamt of us spending a night like this?"

His mouth quirked up at the corner. "Have you?"

"Uh…" I could feel my cheeks warming up.

 _Unfair. I've asked first._ But I didn't think of complaining as I lost myself while contemplating him; his lips which had probably kissed every inch of my body, his hair messy because of my fingers threading through the raven strands most of the night.

"Have you?" he repeated.

The worst thing with his irresistible look was that it was working: I couldn't resolve not to give him what he wanted, and I admitted, "A few times but…"

The last word has escaped me and I bit my lip to stop myself, but of course, it was the word which caught his attention. "But?"

Still biting my lip, I shifted my gaze between his mouth, his eyes, his stubble and his hair, before going on with my confession. "They weren't as good as last night."

Admitting this was worth it, considering the bright smile it brought to his face.

"This night was the best I've had in centuries," he said without any hint of embarrassment.

 _Centuries, no less!_

"This has to have something to do with true love," he went on. "So much more powerful and… magic. Aye, magic, I'd say that's the word."

His words made me feel like I was melting. I knew what he meant; I had never felt something as powerful either.

"All the nights to come could be like this," I said.

He gazed at me in this way which felt like he could drill a hole in my head.

"Looks like we're on our way to our happy ending." His smile was bright as he said this, but there was something I didn't like about the idea, and he obviously noticed. "What is it, love?"

"I know happy endings are what everyone is trying to get in this town, but I don't like the concept."

"What do you mean?"

When he had mentioned centuries, I had surprised myself wishing I could have centuries to spend with him, and hearing him talk about a happy ending didn't match this idea. "Happy ending, it implies it's ending. I don't want that; our life together is only starting."

His smile was enough to make me feel overwhelmed with love. "Perhaps we should rather talk about a happy beginning?"

"Much better! Or a happy forever or something." _Just anything but an ending._

"I quite fancy the concept of a happy forever."

I was unable to take my eyes off of him; or to keep my hands away. I caressed his neck, his shoulders, his chest. I felt like I knew his body well, after hours spent exploring all of its lines, but I couldn't get enough of it. Thinking of hours reminded me that the world was more than just the two of us. I glanced at the clock and the whine which escaped me when I saw it was half past ten seemed to amuse him.

"I need a shower."

It was his turn to whine. "Do you really have to go already?"


	10. Final chapter

"Do you really have to go already?"

My lips stretched into a smile and I resumed the exploration of his body, trailing my hand down.

"It's half past ten already. If we don't reappear in town soon, my father may look for me and directly come here." _We don't want that._

"You locked the door," he pointed out.

"True." At worst, he'd be knocking on the door and be stuck outside.

"Caressing me like you do won't make me want to let you get out of this bed."

"And what are you going to do to stop me?" I asked while going on with the caresses. "Are you going to make me your prisoner?"

He smirked and a squeal escaped me when he rolled on the side and I found myself under him.

"That's a possibility." His tone was playful and he was giving me his irresistible look.

Simply delighted to be there, a giggle uncontrollably came out. "You won't need to keep me captive. I'm staying. But at a quarter to eleven, I'll go."

I saw him glance at the clock, and smiled even more widely when he groaned. "That's too soon."

 _You're right._ Of course, I would not admit I'd stay in this bed with him all day if I could.

"Eleven," I said, offering us another quarter of an hour.

The crooked smile made its way back to his features. "Still too soon, but better."

Silence blanketed the both of us. We were gazing at each other. I could feel him against me, and my heartbeat became erratic. We didn't need words to know we both wanted the same thing; we had some extra-time, and we both knew very well how to use it.

* * *

"It's eleven," he warned me.

 _Already?_ Lying on my stomach with my face in the pillow, I grumbled.

"What did you say?" he asked.

I could hear in his voice that his lips were stretched into a smirk.

"Five more minutes," I repeated more distinctly.

He chuckled. "I have all the time in the world."

His fingers grazed over my skin as he brushed my hair aside, and he went on kissing my back. He went up and reached for my neck.

"But be careful, love," he whispered. "You could make me think you're as unwilling to leave this bed as I am."

Smiling in the pillow, I turned my head to look at him. "Maybe I am."

 _So handsome._ I turned around to lie on my back, and wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him down to me and kiss him.

Willing to switch positions, I tried to roll but, at first, I didn't manage to make him move. When he seemed to understand what I meant to do, his mouth quirked at the corner and I found myself on top of him. My hand went to his hair which I rearranged, making it messy but in an organized way. I let my fingers slip down his cheek and lightly scratch his stubble.

Completely absorbed in what I was doing, it was only after a moment that I caught his eye. There was so much love in them that I drowned in his bright blue depths. He took my hand, played with my fingers and caressed my palm. It was obviously his turn to be totally engrossed in what he was doing. The look of wonder on his face was fascinating. I wished I would know what he was thinking of, so that I could share his amazement. But I didn't manage to read him, and instead contented myself with gazing at him. That was only for a moment; at last, curiosity got the best of me.

"What are you thinking about?"

His reaction showed he had deeply lost himself in thoughts. "I'm just…"

I waited for the rest of his sentence, but it didn't come. Seeing him like this was both surprising and adorable. "Usually, I'm the one not finishing my sentences."

"Well, there's a first for everything."

I tried to look him in the eye but he fixed his gaze on our hands. The more mysterious he was, the more I wanted to know. "There's something you want to say."

His lips unexpectedly captured mine and the kiss was so intense that it was slightly worrying, reminding me of these goodbye kisses meant to indicate how much we loved each other. "What is it that you wanted to say?" _You're not leaving, right?_

"It's more like something I want to ask."

Suddenly, it dawned on me and my heart skipped a beat. _Something to ask._ I looked at my hand in his own while I took the other one to my necklace, closing my fingers around his brother's ring.

"What is it, love?" he asked.

I tore my gaze away from our hands to look at him. His eyes were shifting from mine to the ring clutched in my hand. "I'm just thinking of the answer." _I'll say yes._

"The answer?" He raised an inquiring eyebrow. _You will know when you ask. If I don't ask you first._ I didn't say anything and he went on, "You're also wondering that about your magic?"

"What?" _What does my magic have to do with proposing?_

"Your magic. Your hand, that's where it comes from," he said while searching my eyes. I let go of his brother's ring; obviously, we had not been talking about the same thing. "I was wondering if… well, they say you have magic because you're the product of true love." The mysterious turn of the conversation made me forget about the slight disappointment caused by my mistake and I listened carefully. "But since it's true love for us as well, do you think that, if we had a baby, she, or he, would have magic as well?"

"Killian." His name escaped me and my voice broke as, suddenly overwhelmed, my eyes filled with tears. I captured his lips and kissed him as passionately as he had a moment earlier, understanding it had got nothing to do with a goodbye kiss. Then pressing a kiss on his cheek, I slipped my arms under the pillow to hug him. It was the third time since we had come back home that he was mentioning the eventuality of our family to grow and, as if it wasn't enough, he was even wondering about details such as the heritability of my magic. My heart was bursting with love.

"Are you alright?" he asked while his fingers pleasantly trailed over my back.

I lifted my head up to catch his eye. "More than alright. I love you."

"Good," he said with a broad smile. "Magic already runs in your veins, and we are true love. It must be possible; don't you think?"

"I don't know." I was drowning in his eyes, only wishing I could let him feel how much I loved him.

"Henry and I would be the muggles of the family."

His unexpected words promptly pulled me away from my musings and I laughed. "How do you even know what a muggle is?"

"Henry, of course. He loves those books. I hear about it every time we go sailing."

My gaze shifting between his eyes and his bright smile, it was one of these moments when there seemed to be all this love for him flowing through my veins, and I just didn't know what to do about it. "I can already say you and Henry are my favorite muggles in the world."

He flashed me his crooked smile and lifted his head up, just enough to capture my lips and pull me down to him.

Catching my breath, my forehead and nose were leaning against his own. It was only when I had my eyes closed that I remembered it was late. The five more minutes I had asked for had surely elapsed.

I sighed. "I really should go."

He nodded but I didn't move and kept gazing at him instead.

His mouth quirked up at the corner. "Go, before I give in to another attempt to make half-blood babies."

My heart skipped a beat and I needed a moment before I could answer. "Henry taught you well!" _Half-blood babies._ By dint of smiling so much, my cheeks were starting to hurt. "No more attempt," I teased him, pecking his lips. "For now."

The two last words brightened his smile but I left the bed before he had time to say anything. It suddenly felt cold without his body against mine. Though tempted to look back, I didn't. _Is he looking at me?_ Probably, considering the view I was offering him. _Will he follow me?_ I blushed when I realized I wished he would, and bit my lip while entering the bathroom. I took my time to close the door, making sure I wouldn't close it in his face, but he was obviously not coming. Soon, I was losing myself in thoughts in the shower, memories of the past night flowing through my mind and a dreamy smile settling on my face. When I remembered that the subject of all my musings was actually in the next room, I suddenly turned the water off and rushed out of the bathtub. I would probably need some time before getting used to the idea I didn't have to daydream in the shower anymore; that was it, we had moved in together. _I'm living with the man I love._ I bit my lip to stop the smile on my lips to broaden even more. Hurryingly drying myself, I was tempted to get out of the bathroom wearing nothing. _He'd be delighted._ I realized I had actually no choice, as all of my clothes were in the bedroom. _That's really too bad._ I giggled and, leaving the towel in the bathroom, headed back to our room. But the room was empty.

"Killian?"

There was no answer, but a loud shattering sound came from downstairs and, at once, I imagined the worst scenario: there must be a fight.

"Killian!"

Quickly grabbing the first piece of clothes I found, I rushed downstairs, putting on what happened to be my nightgown.

"Sorry love, I've broken the plates." I stopped abruptly, relieved, but at the same time stunned by the view: there was my Killian, standing shirtless in the kitchen, scratching his ear and looking down at the shattered porcelain at his feet. "The whole pile, it seems."

Though amused by his clumsiness, I was too busy gazing at him to even laugh. It was only when he bent down to pick up the pieces that I reacted.

"Don't touch this!" With a single wave of the hand, I made all the fragments vanish.

"Well, that's an easier way," he said with a bright smile. When he looked up, I was still standing at the foot of the staircase. "What is it, love? Aren't you coming?"

"You're shirtless," I replied bluntly and he laughed.

"That's nothing you haven't seen."

"I know but…" _I haven't seen you from such a distance, let me admire the view._

"But what?" His left eyebrow shot up while he smirked; and there was the teasing.

 _Okay, I give you that one._ "I'm not used to how handsome you are, yet."

He chuckled, obviously feeling smug. "That's not something you can get used to."

 _You might be right._ "I thought you'd be dressed by now."

"I already made the effort of putting my pants on. If you don't mind, I'll have a shower before putting on the rest."

"Oh." _Shower, right._

"Why is it that everyone seems to think of pirates as dirty?" He looked offended by my reaction and, like every other time, I found it nothing but amusing. "I do bathe quite frequently, love, you know?"

Laughing, I walked to him and closed the distance between us, pressing my body against his shirtless one and slipping my arms in his back. "Well, next time you can join me."

"Careful, love, I could take you at your word."

I looked up through my eyelashes. "I'm serious. You could have come."

He remained quiet for a moment, before announcing, "Someone had to get the coffee ready."

He indicated the coffee pot, which was full.

"You made some coffee?" My question was stupid as the answer was obvious, but this gesture had been unexpected.

"Aye."

I didn't have time to answer as a sound caught my attention: my phone. "Maybe I should check."

Killian nodded and I picked up my phone.

"Oops."

"What is it?"

"Six texts from my father."

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

Before saying anything else, I took the time to read the texts, starting with the one he had just sent.

'Emma, where are you? I don't want to take the risk of finding you and Killian, but if you're not here by 11:30, I'll come and knock on your door.'

I suddenly felt nervous and guilty; what if something bad had happened while Killian and I had decided to escape town? I quickly scrolled up to the before-last text.

'Meet me at the sheriff station. Don't worry, nothing too bad for now.'

 _Nothing too bad._ Despite the last words, the knot in my stomach seemed to tighten. I scrolled up.

'Might be in trouble: Hyde is in town. Nothing urgent for now, everyone safe. See you tomorrow.'

Somehow, this text reassured me; if this Hyde I had been told about had done something wrong, someone would have come and knocked on our door already. Relieved, I scrolled up to the last text I had sent him on the previous evening, when I had warned him that I'd be out with Killian for the night, and repressed a laugh when I read the three texts which had followed.

'Okay, see you tomorrow.'

'Wait, are you spending the night with him?'

'Don't answer the previous message, I don't want to know. Just… be careful.'

Sitting at the table, Killian was watching me with an inquiring look, waiting for his answer.

"Relatively alright," I said. "Considering we're in Storybrooke, it could be worse. Look."

I went to stand behind his chair and wrapped an arm around his neck, enjoying his warmth while holding my phone in front of us to show him the texts. His hand came to rest on my arm, caressing the inside of my wrist.

"Bloody hell, Hyde followed us."

"We'll deal with him. He can't be worse than Hades." _That's not the text I wanted you to read._ "Look at the two texts right above."

He read the texts and I felt his chest shake against my arm as he chuckled. "He knows we moved in together but is still shocked at the idea we're spending the night together. Your father is one of a kind. You said there were six texts?"

"Yes." I scrolled down to the last texts; those about me needing to go to the sheriff's station. "These ones are less fun."

I sighed while he read the texts, guessing this time we had stolen to be just the both of us was about to end.

"Half past eleven," he repeated the time mentioned by my father.

Obviously willing to look through the window behind us, he turned around and, somehow, my eye was caught by this muscle tensing in his neck. My lips found themselves pressed against it, and he chuckled.

"Love, what are you doing?"

I felt his muscle contract underneath my lips as he slowly came back to his initial position, and I lifted my head up, keeping my eyes on his neck.

"I just…" _Saw this muscle tense in your neck and it was so irresistible that I had to feel it against my lips. Nope, not admitting that._ "Nothing." I brought back the subject on what was seemingly the most urgent. "We don't have much time left."

"What time is it?"

He looked around and I couldn't repress a light laugh, guessing he had forgotten the time was on the phone I was still holding in front of him. "It's written here."

"Yeah, right." He sighed. "Five minutes."

"Or, actually, a bit more than that." Only having five minutes left was bothering me as much as it was bothering him, and a simple solution occurred to me.

"What do you mean?"

I quickly typed, 'I'm coming. At 11:45,' and hit the send button.

"Twenty minutes," I announced while putting my phone down on the table.

I wrapped both my arms around him, crossing them on his chest with my hands on his shoulders. Letting my thumbs follow the line of his neck, I kissed his cheek, leaning against him enough to almost make him lose his balance.

"What is that for?" he asked with a chuckle, tenderly crossing his arms over mine and kissing my shoulder.

"To thank you, for everything; the evening aboard the Jolly Roger, followed by the night here, and… I actually don't need any specific reason to kiss you."

Just to prove my point, I pressed my lips on his cheek again. And jumped when a sound suddenly interrupted the silence. Quickly, I identified its source as the toaster.

"You made some toasts," I remarked, not hiding my surprise.

"Did you really think I would prepare you a breakfast consisting only of coffee?"

 _Yes._ I had actually not expected him to make some coffee, even less to get breakfast ready. That was when I noticed he had brought out of the cupboard everything he had found that could be spread on toasts.

 _My Killian is perfect._ This fact was not surprising me anymore, even if it kept amazing me. What was surprising me was the fact he had made some toasts. "Since when do you know how to use a toaster?"

"Swan!" As always, his offended look made me laugh. "I've been in town long enough to know how to use the toast thing."

 _The toast thing._ I giggled before playfully correcting, "Toaster."

"Whatever the name is, I know how to use it." He pressed a quick kiss on my cheek before getting up and retrieving the toasts. I noticed he had also poured coffee into two mugs; he had really gone all out, forgetting nothing.

"Am I entitled to this kind treatment every morning to come?" I asked and he flashed me a bright smile.

"If you want, that can be a part of our happy forever."

 _Happy forever._ I sighed happily and got lost in my thoughts as I imagined what our life could be like.

When we finished breakfast, we both knew we were supposed to go. But I didn't feel ready to go back to the real world waiting for us outside. _One last moment._ Getting up, I went to sit on his lap. While I wrapped my arms around his neck, he slipped his left arm in my back and his hand came to rest on my thigh. His lips captured mine and the kiss lasted until we needed air.

I sighed, knowing what we had to do. "We should go."

"I just need to take a shower. But you don't have to worry, love," he said with a lopsided smile. "My devilishly handsome self will soon be back in your sight."

A laugh escaped me. "I'll survive. I have to change, anyway."

"Aren't you ready to go?" He asked, raising an inquiring eyebrow, and it only made me laugh more.

"This is my nightgown," I said, indicating the fabric. "First thing I've found before I rushed downstairs. You scared me when you broke all the plates, remember? I thought you were being attacked, I didn't have time to find something better."

"Sorry?" He asked, obviously amused. His eyes went down as he examined my nightgown. "Well, you still look good in it."

"But I can't go out like this," I giggled. "I'm not even wearing anything under it."

"Emma…"

 _It's your fault._ His tongue had appeared in the corner of his lips and his look was smoldering when I caught his eye. His hand surreptitiously shifted on my thigh while he glanced down. _You can check by yourself._

I shook my head to stop myself from drifting away any further and sighed. "We need to go."

He looked up and nodded, and we went upstairs. Being the first one to be ready, I went to clear the table while waiting for him. At last, he came down while I was putting on my leather jacket, and hugged me from behind, tenderly pressing his lips on my cheek.

"Was your shower long enough for you to miss me?" I asked, melting in his embrace.

"Aye."

I simply smiled and said nothing, covering his arms with mine and leaning back against him, the side of my face pressed against his own, closing my eyes and enjoying this quiet moment without knowing when the next one would be.

My voice was just a whisper when I asked, "What do you think this Hyde guy wants?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good."

"Well, nothing can come against true love," I said stubbornly. We'd been through enough already; nothing would come between us. "No matter what he wants, we'll face him together."

"Or find our way back to each other if he manages to pull us apart, like we said last night."

"Yes. Just like my parents, we'll always find each other."

One last kiss, and we left, heading to whatever was awaiting us.

* * *

 _Killian's version is also available: same story, but with his own swoon-worthy thoughts._

 _This was the last chapter of this story, I hope you enjoyed! Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought!_


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